Regions Briefs
Sen. Franklin Drilon
Drilon critic to appeal libel conviction
ILOILO CITY—A critic of Sen. Franklin Drilon said he would appeal his conviction for libel, stressing that he was ready to fight until the case reached the Supreme Court. “This is a temporary defeat for truth and justice,” said former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada. The Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 118 convicted Mejorada of four counts of libel and meted him a minimum prison term of two years. Mejorada, Drilon’s former social media consultant, accused the senator of involvement in alleged irregularities in several infrastructure projects in Iloilo. Drilon welcomed the court’s decision. “My family and I are grateful that the court’s decision confirmed the truth. Mejorada is merely peddling lies and malicious stories,” he said. In her 33-page decision, Judge Rowena Nieves Tan of the Pasay City RTC Branch 118 rejected Mejorada’s defense that his social media posts were “fair comments based on established and documented facts.” “The records of the case (did not show) that Mejorada verified his stories,” Tan said. —NESTOR P. BURGOS JR.
2 hurt as quake jolts Southern Mindanao
TAGUM CITY—Two persons were injured when a waiting shed in Davao City collapsed after a 4.6-magnitude earthquake struck parts of Southern Mindanao region yesterday. The earthquake’s epicenter was 9 kilometers northwest of Davao City, a bulletin from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) showed. Ground shaking was felt in Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte provinces, as well as in the cities of Tagum, Panabo and Davao. In Davao City, reports said Maria Teresa Pusta, 43, and Fe Yu, 66, were waiting for a jeepney ride at a waiting shed on Quirino Avenue when it collapsed after the quake struck at 9:50 a.m. Resident Orlando Montilla said the waiting shed was more than 30 years old. The city government of Davao has ordered its engineering department to inspect all public structures and check for damage after the quake hit. It promised to extend help to the injured. Early this month, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Caraga region, causing massive damage in Surigao City and other areas in Surigao del Norte province. —FRINSTON LIM
